The Gibbon Experience in Laos is an insane activity and not to be skipped during your trip through Laos. For two or three days, you’ll hike and zipline through the jungles of northern Laos. In the afternoon you zipline right into your treehouse where you spend the night 40 feet above the ground. The Gibbon Experience is an amazing highlight for many travelers. In this article we give you all the information about the Gibbon Experience: what tours there are, what the days look like, the packing list and how to get to the Gibbon Experience.
Content of this blog:
Which tour should I choose for the Gibbon Experience?
There are two different tours: the Express tour and the Classic tour. The Express is 2 days / 1 night, the Classic is 3 days / 2 nights. So in addition to the Classic being one full day longer, there are other differences.
The Express tour of the Gibbon Experience involves more hiking and ziplining. Especially on the first day, the hike is quite tough, mainly because you cover quite a bit of altitude. If you have normal fitness and a little perseverance, you can keep it up just fine. On the Express tour, you also have a 0.00001% chance of spotting Gibbons. They are rare in this part of the jungle; only one Gibbon family lives in this part of the national park a long distance from the treehouse.
On the Classic tour, you take it a little easier. You will hike less and zipline less, but you still need to have good basic fitness. In addition, on the Classic tour you have a greater chance of spotting Gibbons. They are not spotted daily but you have a chance to see them and you will hear them anyway.
Which tour you choose is entirely up to you. However, the Classic tour is often fully booked 2 months in advance. So you should either book well in advance or if there is no more space, opt for the Express tour anyway.
Pros and cons of both tours
Express tour
- More hiking
- More ziplines
- A lot heavier
- One night
- No chance of spotting Gibbons
Classic tour
- Less hiking
- Fewer ziplines
- A little less heavy
- Two nights
- Chance of spotting Gibbons
- One full day in the jungle
- Booked up faster
Day 1 of the Express tour
Between 08:00 and 08:30 report to the Gibbon Experience office. Here you may leave your big backpack, as you will only take a small backpack with the necessary clothes and belongings.
First, you fill out a form and are shown an instruction video. After this, it’s time to jump in the jeep, off to adventure! The jeep will take you to the starting point of the Gibbon Experience in 45 minutes. Here you will get some instructions again and the large group will be split. The groups consist of up to 10 people. After the instructions, you’ll put on your zipline gear and then it’s finally time to head out. After the first short zipline, you immediately climb steeply uphill. This first hour of hiking is very tough; you will also sweat a lot from this.
After lunch, you are already more than halfway there. You will be mainly ziplining a lot from now on, fun! The first few times ziplining feels a little uncomfortable but that soon changes. You fly between the treetops while looking left and right, a breathtaking view. Around 15:30 you will arrive at the last zipline for today: in fact, you zipline right into your own treehouse, how cool is that!
The guide will already have nice tea and coffee ready for you with some snacks. You’ll feel completely at peace here while enjoying an insanely beautiful sunset. Jump in the (cold) shower, which is wide open. You can look right into the jungle, which is really a wonderful experience. In the evening, a delicious dinner will be served after which you can play some more games and then go to sleep nice and early.
Day 2 of the Express tour
The alarm clock rings early, at 06:00. An hour later, in fact, you will begin the morning exercise: a bit of walking and some ziplines. 1.5 hours later you return to the treehouse to have breakfast and pack your last belongings. You won’t get back to the treehouse, unfortunately.
You’re going to hike quite a bit again, this time mostly downhill. The alternation of hiking and ziplining is a little better distributed today. After about 3 hours you arrive back at the starting point: you’ve made it! Here you will enjoy another delicious lunch and can take a dip in the river. Through a bumpy road you will leave the jungle and then be brought back to Huay Xai. You can look back on two great days.
The Classic tour
On the classic tour, the days look a little different. You’ll be doing a lot less hiking and ziplining. Especially on the second day, you will spend a lot of time in and around the treehouse trying to spot the Gibbons. It’s hard to say whether the Classic or the Express tour is more fun or more special, it completely depends on what you like. In addition, you may also run out of choices because the Classic tour is often fully booked 2 months in advance.
What should you bring for the Gibbon Experience?
We describe the packing list for the Gibbon Experience below. This is the most basic packing list, you can add or omit things yourself, but this is what we would recommend.
- Thin long pants
- Thin cardigan / sweater
- Thick sweater for evenings in winter (November to mid-March)
- Sports shorts
- 2 t-shirts or tops (3 on the classic tour)
- Extra pairs of underwear and socks (2 extra on the classic tour)
- Good walking shoes or firm sneakers that you walk well on
- Rain jacket in the rainy season
- Swimwear (only during the two-day express tour)
- Mosquito spray (very important!)
- Sunscreen
- Sunglasses
- Toothbrush and toothpaste
- Lens tray, lens solution and glasses
- Camera
- Refillable water bottle
- Powerbank
- Games
- Tissues
- Epipen if you are allergic to wasp stings
- 200,000 kip. This is partly for the tip and partly for a drink you can buy at the last lunch
How much does the Gibbon Experience cost?
The Express tour of 2 days / 1 night costs +/- €205 per person. For this money, you get two guides, good zipline equipment, 4 meals (lunch, dinner, breakfast, lunch), snacks, one night in the treehouse and all related facilities.
For the Classic tour, you pay +/- €310 per person. So you always pay around €100 per person per day. This is a lot of money, especially for Asia, but personally we think it is really worth it. It is truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience. In addition, with your money you ensure that many jobs are created among the local population and a portion is invested in the conservation and protection of the National Park. You can book the Gibbon Experience through the official website. Here you can also see the availability of the classic and express tours.
How do I get to the Gibbon Experience?
From Chiang Rai, you can easily catch the local bus to Chiang Khong. You will then be dropped off at the border with Laos. Read all about the Chiang Rai route to the Gibbon Experience in this blog. After crossing the border, you’ll spend another half hour in the tuktuk before arriving in Huay Xai. This is the town where you will stay overnight and where the Gibbon Experience office is also located.
When you come from Luang Prabang, you have two choices: either take the two-day slow boat or take the bus that takes +/-12 hours. We chose the slowboat and would recommend it to anyone. It is a wonderful experience where you spend 2 days cruising the Mekong and dreaming away at the tranquility and beautiful views.
